


Everything I've Lost

by hannahch



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Big Brother Dean, Dean Winchester - Freeform, O.C. - Freeform, Original Character(s), Other, Sam Winchester - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-05
Updated: 2015-01-16
Packaged: 2018-02-07 13:42:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1901112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hannahch/pseuds/hannahch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the midst of an unsettling case, the brothers come across a young hunter, on her own, caught up in the chaos.</p><p>Taking her under their wing, can they continue to guarantee each other's safety, as well as hers?</p><p>ON HOLD</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 'Hero of the Day'

In their haste to escape from the chaos that had continued to follow them down the hallway, the boys ran at the door ahead of them and the force of the collision broke the door from its frame. Wood splinters flew as it all came crashing to the ground. Sam and Dean scrambled back onto their feet and only the noticed they were not alone.

There she was, cowering against the back wall, gripping tightly onto a hand, the arm of which lay at an awkward angle, with no further information as to whose it was. She watched them through wide eyes, breathing in tight patterns, with alarm colouring the edges of her face. The two boys turned their backs on her for a moment or two as they built up a barrier in the doorway. Within seconds of their mission being completed, the girl was at Dean's throat with a silver knife. There was a certain wildness in her eyes, but he was far from alarmed. It was a look that accompanied a feeling with which he was very well accustomed: desperation spiked with anger and determination.

Sizing her up in a matter of micro-seconds, he knew that he could fight her slight form off without much trouble if need be, but he allowed her to maintain the power for a moment longer. He nodded minutely at Sam, who, acknowledging his brother's decision, lowered the gun he had aimed at her back.

Unsure of how to take this latest development, the girl spent a second or so looking first at Dean and the to Sam, as if hoping to ascertain further information from their straight faces. Dean felt a peculiar surge of pride as he watched her shake her head a little, as if to clear a thought, and then press him a little more firmly against the wall that she had backed him up against. Without relinquishing her hold on the knife that she still had at his throat, she reached behind her into a back pocket and withdrew a flask which she uncapped with her teeth. She flung clear liquid into his face, waiting to see if he had any further reaction than to flinch a little as he closed his eyes. Upon seeing none, she nicked the softer skin of his throat under his chin, drawing a thin line of blood droplets to the surface.

Sam started forwards toward her but before his hand reached her, Dean waved him back. After a pause and a series of hasty eye communications, he complied and Dean returned his gaze to the girl.

"You about done now?" He asked.

As a response, she pulled out a fistful of salt and crushed it against his lips. He took a deep breath, anger slowly beginning to boil in his stomach, climbing its way up to his chest. He raised his eyebrows at her.

"You're human." She said.

Dean nodded and she crumbled. He managed to catch a hold of her elbows just in time to prevent her from falling to the floor. She had gone so limp in relief that he held her tight against him, wrapping his arms across her shoulders to support her. The two boys remained silent, allowing her time to regain herself.

They stayed like that for a few long minutes. Dean could feel her hitched breathing against his chest, and her fingers gripping onto the weathered cotton of his t-shirt. He only looked down as she pushed her forehead against him for a second, before shakily pulling away from his support.

Colour was climbing its way up her neck and extending across her face as she sheepishly returned her eye-line back to the boys. There was no doubting her embarrassment at her near-breakdown, but Sam and Dean merely smiled encouragingly at her.

"Sorry," she said. "I'm not normally like this, but it's been a living hell here."

Sam laughed a little as Dean snorted, and they shot glances at each other.

"So, you're one of us." Dean stated. "A hunter."

The girl nodded, "Yeah. Born and raised, I guess."

"Well, I'm Dean Winchester. This is my brother, Sam."

"Winchester? I wasn't sure that you guys weren't just urban legend." She said shyly. "I'm Hailee." She raised her hand to shake each of theirs in turn.

"So can you tell us what's going on here?" Sam asked.

"I'm not entirely sure," Hailee replied."I would have said that it was the Croatoan virus hitting us up again, but this is different. It's more of a mutation - physically I mean - than the Croatoan. You'd pick one of these guys out from a mile away."

"Okay," Sam paused. "Are you with anybody?"

Hailee froze and a wash of emotion shot across her face, slightly scrunching her nose as it passed. She shook her head.

"No offence, but aren't you a little young to be out on a job by yourself...?" Dean pushed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and leaned back on his heels a little to see her face a little more clearly.

"I'm nineteen," she interjected, a little more indignantly than either of the brothers were expecting. But then she dropped her gaze and her attitude, suddenly engrossed in brushing dust off her laddered tights. "I came here with other people," she said, shifting uncomfortably on her feet, before laying the knife she still held on the table by the foot of the double bed. "But the chaos here... Well, it kind of took over."

Sam and Dean glanced questioning lay in each other's direction, and together their brows furrowed in the family way.

"How do you mean?" Sam asked, pulling a rickety chair by the boarded up window further into the room and then seating himself on it.

Hailee took this last movement as an invitation and backed up to collapse in the edge of the bed. The old and beaten-up mattress groaned in protest, springing back to half-catapult her slight frame back up into a standing position. She regained her balance on the edge and gathered the sleeves of her hole-ridden sweater over the backs of her hands, until only her fingertips were showing, before clamping her fingers between her knees. She continued to be incapable of meeting either of the boys' eyes, even as she spoke: "Those things... Out there... The ones you had to kill?"

Both boys nodded frowning deeper and deeper as the truth began to dawn on them little by little.

"They... They, uh, used to be..." She paused to try and clear the tremble out of her voice, but instead had to bite down hard on her top lip in a futile attempt to set a flow of tears that balanced on her eyelashes. One large fat tear rolled down her cheek, weighted with intense emotion. "They used to be my family."

Dean licked and then bit his lips, shoving his hands even further into his pockets, while Sam's brows furrowed further and sympathy filled his eyes before he dropped his gaze.

"And," Dean ventured, subdued, "the person over there?" He motioned in the vague direction of the hand that remained lifeless, and only slightly visible from behind the other side of the bed.

Hailee hid her face in her hands, resting her elbows on her knees, before moving her hands to hold either side of her head. Not-so-subtly wiped tears continued to crawl down her face. "My dad."

Dean pulled up the other chair, a little closer to Hailee than Sam had, and leaned his arms on his knees with his hands clasped in front of him. "I'm sorry. Is he...?"

"Dead?" Hailee let out a strangled chuckle. "Yeah. I put the bullet in his head myself. Just like he taught me." She paused to swipe at her face as tears continued to fall. She sniffed. "I was just about to start lighting him up when you guys came in."

Dean leaned over and placed his hand on her knee. There was a moment of silence as she eyed him up. He started to retract his hand, but she grabbed a hold of his fingers, squeezing them tightly, before letting out a quavering breath.

"I'm sorry." She said, running her hand across her face again.

"Don't be," Dean replied after a moment's pause. He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb before taking charge of the situation. "Listen, grab all your stuff from in here. My car's in the lot." Hailee nodded, trying not to think if the other cars that were going to be left standing abandoned. "Can you drive?" She nodded again. "Okay, there's a diner about a quarter-mile down the road. Take my car and go and grab some food. We'll meet you in the parking lot there. We'll eat on the go."

"What about...?" She gestured to where her dad's body lay, then to the building in general.

"We'll meet you at the diner." Said Sam. He stood up to reach into his back pocket for his wallet. Pulling out two twenty dollar bills, he continued, "He'll have a double bacon-and-cheese burger with extra bacon, and I'll have a chicken burger. Both with everything." He handed the money over to her. "Get whatever you like."

"Thanks." Hailee stood up and started to gather her various belongings from around the room, throwing weapons into the bottom of a backpack that looked like it had seen life before beginning to roll items of clothing to fit in on top.

Looking around, Dean was suddenly aware that outside of the room everything had fallen silent. "Where'd they all go?"

Hailee glanced up from her meticulous packing, in order to fit her life into one small single bag. "They disappear when they eventually find someone new to play with. I'd assume they're all in the basement, audiencing whatever horrific show is going on."

"Is that why you came out here?"

"Yeah. We thought numbers would be enough..." She paused, intent on flattening a wrinkle out of a shirt. "Obviously we were wrong." She pushed the clothes further down into the bag, closing it up. She stood and slung one strap over her shoulder. "Your best shot is to trap them while they're occupied, and burn this place to the ground. Fire's the only thing that works en masse."

"But you shot your dad." Dean wondered aloud.

"Silver works if you get it fast enough, before the mutation takes hold. Otherwise it just knocks them out for an hour or so."

Both brothers nodded, taking the new information on board, before Dean fished the Impala keys out of his jacket and threw them underarm to Hailee.

"See you, then." She said, heading to the door and beginning to break the obstruction apart. She moved items around to make a hole large enough for her to fit through, dropping her bag through first.

"See you," Sam called, watching her disappear. "Be careful."

"Always am." Came her smart reply.

Half an hour later, Dean and Sam walked down the road, away from the smoking block. They had taken time to make sure that the blaze had taken hold on the lower levels, ensuring that the basement and all it's inhabitants were obliterated.

As agreed, Hailee had parked the Impala towards the back of the parking lot beside the diner, separated from the other cars. She was sat on the divider by the front bumper of the car with her back to the boys as they approached, an iced coffee stood next to her, her bag by her feet, and a cigarette was dangling from her fingers.

It seemed to be that she was entirely in a world of her own, as she jumped when Dean passed by, squeezing her shoulder as he went.

She took one last drag on the cigarette, before putting it out and throwing it to one side. She gathered herself, but it was obvious to see that she had been crying before she swatted the tears that still balanced on her skin.

"The food's on the front seat," she said as she stood, brushing down her leggings. "I didn't know about drinks, so I got two cokes."

"That's great, thanks," Dean said, yanking the driver's door open and retrieving the bag of food. Before Sam had got to him, he was already tearing the paper away from his burger. Sam shot him a look as he took his first big bite, and after a brief non-verbal battle, Dean lowered his head a little, chewing quickly on his mouthful. He swallowed hard.

"Okay. So let's go somewhere. New plan of action."

"I need to do some serious research," Sam volunteered. "I hear there's a good library not too far outside of town, so you can drop me there. I won't say no to help though."

Dean smirked. "Okay, Sammy. Bookworm new moon. Got it."

The brothers swung themselves into the front seat of the Impala, slamming their respective doors behind them. Dean found the keys already hanging from the ignition, and with the contented smile he always wore at the wheel, he started his baby up. They both looked to Hailee.

She was stood frozen. Completely riveted to the spot, she watched as smoke billowed higher into the sky above the motel block. Sirens were slowly becoming more and more audible, but she hoped they'd wait a minute in order to allow the flames to do their job.

Tears were crawling down her cheeks, completely silent. It didn't even appear that she was breathing.

After a moment or two, she closed her eyes and turned back to face the car. She made no attempt to dry her face this time, as she leant down to pick up her drink cup and bag, the latter of which she threw across her back, and walked to the driver's side of the car, stopping by Dean's open window.

"Thank you," she murmured, catching his eye. "I'm not sure I could have done that alone."

"There's no way." Dean said, with a small sympathetic smile playing in the corner of his mouth.

"Yeah..." Hailee smiled a little in return, dragging her gaze from his lips back up to his eyes. "Well I guess I should probably get going. There's still a lot of work left to do. You guys should probably be moving too, right? I mean when aren't the Winchesters busy?" She paused. "Just give me a second and I'll be out of your hair."

Dean's eyebrows knitted closer together. "What are you talking about? Get in the car."

"No, I couldn't..."

"Look, we're staying on the case. It would be pointless to split up now."

"Come on." She raised her eyebrows and rubbed the backs of her fingers along one.

"Sam, would you back me up?"

"Hailee. Dean's right. It would be better to work together on this. And we're not leaving you to wander alone right now - not after everything that you've just been through."

Hailee shifted her eyes to the ground, nervously shuffling her feet. "Look, it's really nice of you to worry, but I'll be fine. It's the risk of the job, right? I don't want to impose."

"We're sticking together." Dean interjected gruffly. "Now get in the damn car before I throw you in." He turned to face forward and wound his window up, effectively drawing the matter to a close.

Sam watched as Hailee visibly considered the situation, before moving slowly to join their bags on the backseat. Dean rolled down his window again as she moved down the car.

As soon as her door was closed, he hit the gas, roaring out of the parking lot and away from the flames that continued to climb higher.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm planning on using song titles as chapter headings. Obviously these will be songs that I feel reflect the mood of the chapter, and in some cases may be a song that aided the writing. So feel free to have a listen to these songs as you go along! :)
> 
> First up is 'Hero of the Day' by Metallica, from their 1996 album 'Load'.


	2. 'After The Fall'

Dean pulled the Impala up into a spot not too far from the library entrance. Sam hopped out, turning back to look at Dean for a split second, before smiling at Hailee and heading into the building.

Hailee started to get out of the car in order to follow, but Dean cleared his throat in order to get her attention.

"Would it be okay if we talked for a minute before heading in?"

"Sure." She closed the door again and looked at him in the rear-view mirror. She hadn't really had a chance to properly look at him before now, and it struck her just how tired he looked. Maybe it was more that Sam wasn't around to see it, but she was sure that there was a slight glaze to his eyes as he stared out the window that had not been there before; neither had the small furrow between his eyebrows.

Dean turned a little to meet her gaze in the mirror, and motioned for her to climb over into the front seat. Following his instruction, she clambered over the back of the bench seat as gracefully as she possibly could. She then seated herself cross-legged on the cushion, facing him.

"I just wanted to ask you a few questions," he started, shrugging. "I know that we're all new acquaintances and I thought that we should get to know each other a little better before this goes any further."

Hailee nodded. "I guess that's fair enough, precaution and all."

"Exactly," Dean's upper lip curled into a half-smile. "So, for starters, where are you from?"

"Originally, my family is from Half Moon Bay, California. But we haven't lived there – or anywhere, really – since my mom and twin sister were killed by a werewolf back when I was about five. My dad had been a hunter long before that – in fact, both my parents were raised into it. But my mom refused to live on the road once my eldest brothers were born, so they set up base camp near where my grandparents lived. My dad would disappear for a couple of weeks or so every time a job came up, but my mom only went on a few after they'd settled in."

"Okay, and who were you with on this job?"

"Well, my dad and I came to scope out the original situation maybe a little under a month ago, but once we saw the scale of it all, we called for backup. So it was my brothers – there are five of them…" Hailee paused and took a deep breath before correcting herself, "There were five of them. Two of them had girlfriends, one had a wife, one a hunting partner and the last flew solo, I guess. My four uncles also showed, along with my aunt and six of my cousins."

"And it's just you left?"

A breath hitched in Hailee's throat as Dean aired this last question.

"Sorry," he said, his voice softening slightly, "I know it must be impossibly hard to talk about this right now, but I have to know."

"Yes," she whispered. "It's just me." She lowered her face, intent on toying with the laces of her converses. "We got wind of a town that was showing unusually high rates of street violence and equally violent deaths, so my dad decided we'd roll by to check it out. We got there a few days later. It was a town not that far from here, maybe 30 or 40 miles south? Anyway, we arrived and the whole town was seething, in utter chaos. Did you get a good look back at the motel?"

Dean shook his head, his eyes never leaving her face.

"Their faces were mangled, perhaps a little from the fighting, but other places the skin looked like it had been burned or ripped off – like they were already beginning to decay. Their eyes were completely empty: blank white. But you could feel when they were looking at you, like their stare bore into you. Everything about them had turned evil; claws for hands, fangs – not as smooth as a vampire's, they were jagged – unevenly spaced between their original teeth that had been shattered and sharpened. And they could no longer talk. Just howl and crow, real animalistic sounds."

Hailee ran her fingers nervously through her hair, dragging it back into a loose and sloppy bun.

"We tried everything we could think of: anti-possession incantations, devil's traps, purification with holy water, silver, salt, everything. By the end, we'd lost too many people. It was only then, as we lit the pyres for the ones who had been killed by these things, that we saw their reaction to the flames. They couldn't get away fast enough, scrambling over one another and letting out these guttural cries of fear. So we lit the town up. Thought we'd got every last son of a bitch too, but they have a kind of magnetic draw to one another – real pack animals. My brother's wife had been… compromised. She made us promise that we would kill her – regardless of the child she was carrying – but she had to lead us to the ones who ran away before we did. But by the time we reached the motel, the mutation had spread through the majority of our group."

She took a deep breath and raised her eyes to meet Dean's. "It's spread through blood or a bite, any mixing of bodily fluids." She said.

Dean nodded, sighing quickly before rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess we'd better go talk to Sammy, then."

They found Sam at a table right at the back of the library, already surrounded by books ranging from encyclopaedias to folk lore and myths.

Scanning a hand across the titles, Hailee found a few that she thought to be important missing from his stash. She walked down the aisles slowly, overhearing Dean's lowered whisper as he regaled her story to Sam. Upon finding the books she was looking for, Hailee returned to the table and laid them on top of the already existing pile.

Dean paused in his story-telling as Sam turned towards her, momentarily distracted by the titles. "'The Intricacies of Genetic Coding', 'Hypnosis: The Power Game' and 'Black Magic: Raising The Pits Of Hell'?"

Hailee shrugged. "No harm in looking," she countered.

Dean looked up at her again, and slid a blank piece of paper and pencil across the table. "Do you reckon you can try and draw the way these things looked?"

"They've been haunting me for three weeks. I think I can do that." She sat down and picked up the pencil. She knew, in order to recreate the faces, she would have to draw on one that she had already known well. She began by bringing an image of her father before the mutation to the fore-front of her mind, and began to draw the basic features.

Dean regained Sam's attention and continued to tell him about the ways that the disease spread.

The scratching of the pencil on the paper as she moved it around, and the rustling of pages from both Dean and Sam, was reasonably relaxing. For the first time in too long, she finally felt a little safe. She remained aware of the fact that her family was now dead, and the memories of the twisted faces and the animal howls still floated constantly across her mind, but in that moment she didn't have to watch her back – afraid that someone she knew would burst through the door, physically changed almost beyond recognition.

Later that night, as the three of them sat in a booth at the local diner, Sam's head snapped up from his plate of fries.

"Hailee?" he asked, to get her attention. "You said something to Dean earlier about the fangs not being like a vampires. What did you mean by that?"

Hailee shifted, looking to Dean as if hoping he'd know the answer for her. Her brows knitted softly together when he shrugged, and she turned back to look at her food, dragging her fork through the salad as she thought.

"I don't know. I guess the first fangs I thought of were a vampire's, but there's… it's ringing a bell somewhere…"

She put down her fork and lowered her face into her hands, eyes crinkled in thought. There had been a mention of vampires, by someone recently. Had she read it somewhere? Or had someone said it? Her eyes darted around the table, resting for a split second on each item there, like she was trying to piece them together to form what she was looking for.

"How about you eat first," Dean said, pushing her plate closer towards her, knocking her elbow as he did so. "You're never gonna be able to think on an empty stomach."

She took her fork back from him, as he waved it unnecessarily close to her face, her mind still churning.

In fact, her mind was still racing as they were leaving the diner to walk across the street to their motel.

The three of them had decided to rent just the one room. It was easier this way to keep tabs on one another, and Hailee had concluded that with all that had been going on, and the amount of coffee that she had drunk over the course of the day, she would not be sleeping much anyway.

They continued with their separate nightly routines; Sam was still researching on his laptop late into the night, Dean pulled a beer out of the mini-fridge and began to clean all of his guns with the same amount of care that he held for the Impala. Hailee on the other hand, was flicking through her families' various journals. She was now convinced that it had been an idea that one of the hunting party had voiced after a stint with the creatures.

And there she found it, scribbled on the bottom left hand corner of a page in her second-eldest brother's journal.  
'These things are violent with destructive tendencies, much like zombies, but the spread of their disease and their features – minus the eyes – are almost vampiric.'

"Sam!" Her voice cut through the air, startling both of the brothers. Sam slamed his laptop closed as Dean promptly discarded his beer bottle, and they both crowded around the back of the chair that Hailee was curled in.

"See here?" she said, motioning to the writing. Handing the journal up to Sam, she began piling the others on the corner of the rickety coffee table. "I knew I'd heard it somewhere. He and my other brother, Linden, were having an argument over what they thought the creatures were, and he came out with this."

She turned in the chair to look at the two boys. "What do you think? Does it help?"

Sam remained silent for a moment, flicking through the pages before and after the observation, before returning his gaze to Hailee.

"It gives us more insight I guess." He turned to Dean. "This is something I'd bounce off Bobby, you know?"

Dean nodded, taking the book from his brother's hands, and smoothing his own fingers across the cover before handing it back to Hailee.

"Bobby?" she asked. "As in Bobby Singer?"

Both Sam and Dean's heads snapped up, incredulous expressions on their faces as they met her gaze.

"You knew him?" Sam asked, his eyebrows raising as his mouth curved into a small smile.

"Who doesn't?" Hailee suddenly picked up on the vibes that lay almost tangible in the room. "He's not… Is he?"

Dean nodded, biting on his upper lip before clearing his throat gruffly and returning to his seat on the couch to attend to his half-finished beer. Sam stood and watched him, before walking to the fridge and pulling out two new beers. He handed one to Hailee.

"I'm not –" she started

"I know." Sam said, pushing the bottle back into her hand, "But learning of someone's death should allow you to have a beer." He gave her a bigger smile and winked, his eyes sparkling a little, "And something tells me that this isn't your first."

Hailee returned his smile, took the beer that he was offering and uncapped it, before touching the neck of her bottle to his. He immediately understood the gesture, and took a gulp of his beer.

Sam returned to the couch, and looked at Dean. "Okay, so who do we go to?"

Dean was fidgeting with the parts to a hand-gun, running the cloth over the already cleaned surfaces. "I don't know. But I guess the source is as good as any."

"You mean the Alpha?"

Dean looked up at Sam, and raised his eyebrows. "Why not? It's not like we've got anything to lose."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next on my playlist here is 'After The Fall' by Kodaline, from their 2013 album 'In A Perfect World'.


	3. 'Dark Hearts'

Hailee was passing, almost soundlessly, down an aisle in a large warehouse. She had one hand running along the cement wall to her left, and had her silver blade poised in the other. She knew that it had been a stupid move to separate herself from Dean, whom she had been forced to shadow for the past few days. But she was aware that she had to gain their trust and respect in her abilities as a hunter. This was all she had ever known, and there was a defiance that lay within her that was not going to let the Winchesters forget it.

Everything was silent as she continued to move, but there was a feeling creeping up her spine that someone or something was watching her every move. Her internal radars were burning red; the creature they were hunting was close.

Hailee almost felt the breeze from the swift movement before the thing was upon her. She had a split second to raise her left arm to shield her throat and thrust the knife in front of her. In the muted light, it was hard to see particulars, but she could feel the spit flying against her skin as the vampire gnashed his fangs at her, attempting to drag her closer.  
Her knee flew up, skilfully angled, and he doubled over. She jumped behind him and viciously stabbed her foot towards him, which resulted in him lying spreadeagled on the floor. Before she saw him move, he had a hold on her ankle, effectively whipping her feet out from underneath her. She landed sharply on her back, fighting for air, her arms above her head. There he suddenly appeared, lying on top of her, grinning maliciously as his fangs glinted in the subdued moonlight.

The two of them struggled for a few minutes, each pushing and punching the other, rolling around as the upper hand changed.

With a feat of strength, Hailee grabbed a hold of the shoulders of the vampire's jacket and whipped them around so that she was straddling his waist. As they landed, she heard one of his shoulders snap out of place, and though not a serious injury for him, it gave her a few seconds upper hand.

With the knife pushed so violently against his throat that she saw blood begin to seep, she reached into an inside pocket of her jacket and pulled out a syringe. The vampire's eyes flashed with rage and he began to struggle much more fervently than before, but she took the opportunity and stabbed the needle into his injured shoulder. She smiled, satisfied with herself, watching the vampire's features slacken, as the dead man's blood took over.

Standing, she felt a warmth trickle a thin path down her chin, and wiped the blood away with her sleeve. A bust lip was not so bad.

"Dean! Sam!" She yelled. Their footsteps started pounding towards her almost immediately. She watched as they met at the head of her aisle and started towards her.

...

It wasn't that she was expecting to be treated like some kind of hero, but Hailee certainly wasn't expecting Dean to grab her by the arm, with a grip like a vice, and frogmarch her out towards the Impala.

He threw her away from him the second they reached the front bumper.

"What the fuck were you thinking? You could have been seriously hurt. You could have died!'

Hailee made as though to answer him, but he thrust a finger towards her, much like her father had when she was younger.

"I let you come with us on this raid because you swore that you would stay with me the whole time. We got inside and the next thing I know, you've vanished. Do you know how worried I was in there? If you'd been hurt, it would have been on my watch! On my conscience!"

"I'm not a child! I can look after myself! I've been doing this my whole life, don't you think that I've picked up some survival tips?"

"You are a child. And while you're with us, you're under my watch. You're on lockdown for the foreseeable future. Am I making myself clear?"

Hailee made an indignant snort. "You're not my dad!" She yelled.

You're not my dad... My dad...

And before she knew it, her knees had crumpled beneath her, and she was kneeling on the ground with her palms pressed against the gravel.

All of the repressed emotion, all of the sadness and pain, everything that she had pushed to the back of her mind over the last two months; it all came tumbling down on top of her, leaving her senses completely numb to the outside world.

She vaguely felt Dean pull her to her feet, shouting in her ear, shaking her.

"You're not my dad."

...

Hailee watched from her allocated corner as Sam and Dean lashed the vampire to a metal chair in the middle of the room, roping thick chains around his body and padlocking the ends to a series of rings in the floor.

She hadn't had much of a chance to get a good look at the creature when he had jumped her in the warehouse, and Dean had insisted that Sam had ridden in the backseat with him on the way back to the Headquarters. Examining his unconscious face, she was surprised to find that she wasn't immediately repulsed by his appearance. Had she not been present when the brothers brought him in, she wasn't sure that she would have recognised him as the vicious monster. He had a handsome face, with smooth features and high cheekbones, that was framed by dark auburn curls. She reckoned he had been in his early twenties when he had been turned.

Not long after the chains had been secured, the vampire's eyelids began to flutter as the effects of the dead man's blood wore off. He had large, piercingly blue eyes that Hailee guessed had once been completely riveting, but there was a malicious sparkle to them now that reassured her in the knowledge that he was indeed the monster of less than an hour ago.

Sam was the first one to move. He stepped forward, demanding the attention of the vampire, whose gaze had been locked on Hailee's face. Before he looked away, the vampire flashed a fang-filled grin at her, revelling in the shiver that visibly ran up her spine.

"We need answers," Sam started. His features had hardened considerably in the moments between entering the chamber that they were currently in and starting his interrogation technique. "And I can assure you that we will get the information that we want out of you. It's up to you on how it goes down. We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way."

The vampire bared his fangs, sending a malevolent hissing chuckle through them. "You're not going to get anything out of me."

"I guess that means we're going the hard way then," growled Dean. He reached into the canvas bag at his feet and withdrew a handful of wooden stakes. He stalked his way into the centre of the room, and thrust one through the man's injured shoulder.

The howl that burst forth was deafening. The vampire squirmed in agony as a sharp hissing sound exhumed from the puncture wound.

"Soaked in dead man's blood," Dean revealed, twirling a second stake like a baton. "Just for your enjoyment." He chuckled a little to himself, as he observed the vampire's eyes carefully tracking the stake as it spun and twirled tauntingly through the air. "Now. About those answers."

Dean suddenly flung himself forward so that his face was threateningly close to the man's. "Where is the Alpha?"

The vampire gave no response. Dean thrust the second stake through the man's chest, perilously close to his heart. he then merely grinned at the writhes that ensued.

Sam appeared at Haley's side, reaching for her hand. "Come on," he said, jerking his head towards the door. "This isn't real pretty to watch."

...

Two or so hours passed before Dean reappeared in the library. He sunk into a chair across the table from Sam, and grimaced wearily. Sam looked up from the pages that he was scouring, and took in the defeated light in Dean's eyes.

"Nothing?" He asked, all last minute hope dissipating from his chest.

"Squat." Dean replied, rubbing his hands over his eyes and down his face. He sighed heavily, biting down on his lower lip, before slapping his thighs and standing. "Right. Food."

"From what I heard, it looks like Hailee's cooking up something." Sam raised his eyes to Dean's slightly taken aback expression. "I know. When was the last time we had a home cooked meal?"

Dean raised his eyebrows, pulling the corners of his mouth down a little. "Well, I reheated pie a few weeks ago, Sammy. Let's not forget that."

"Yeah, Dean," Sam said, a wide grin splitting his face. "That's exactly the same thing."

The boys walked through to the kitchen where they found Hailee wiping down the surfaces, all trace if any creative mess long gone. She looked up as the entered, taking in their light, bantering expressions.

"Good news?" She asked hopefully, a small smile beginning to play in her lips.

Dean shook his head, "Sorry to disappoint."

She shook off the momentary wave of defeat that ran over her, shrugging, "There's always the next time."

Lowering her gaze to the countertop, she continued to scrub at a particularly stubborn spot of grease, raising her eyes again only after it had given in. "Dinner's in the oven. It should be about fifteen minutes."

The boys both nodded gratefully and turned to make their separate ways out of the kitchen. But Hailee caught a hold of Dean's hand before he got too far.

"Can we talk?"

He turned to face her, as Sam left the doorway to return to his beloved research. "Sure."

She let go of his fingers, crushing what little spark had jumped in her chest at the contact. Busying her hands by running them distractedly through her hair, she took a moment to form the words in her mind first. "Look, I just wanted to apologise for earlier. You know, the whole splitting up thing. It was really stupid and, thinking about it now, it could have put you and Sam in some serious danger." She licked her lips, struggling to keep her eyes away from his face. "I just wanted to say that you were right to berate me afterwards, and I know that my reaction wasn't exactly... I don't know, it's just that the last person to tell me off was my dad, and it made me miss him in a really weird way..."

Dean grabbed her shoulder and pulled her into a hug. She relaxed against his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist, breathing in his intoxicating scent.

"Believe me, Sam and I understand grief. And I know that you were trying to prove that you're stronger than you think we're giving you credit for, but sometimes throwing yourself into the job to bury emotions isn't good for you. I was trying to give you space to work everything out. Mainly because if you lose it in a hunt, all three of us are screwed. But I know that you're capable. You wouldn't have survived the motel if you weren't."

She pulled back a little to look up at him. "So does that mean that if I assure you that I'm fine, you'll let me have a round with this vamp?"

Dean chuckled, "Yeah. That's not going to happen."

And with that, he walked out of the room, back to where Sam was pouring over books.

...

Later that night, long after Sam and Dean had headed to bed, Hailee quietly made her way to the chamber where the vamp was being held.

The rusted metal door screeched as she began to open it. She froze, not even daring to breathe until she was sure that there was no movement from within the Headquarters. Slipping through the small gap that she had already made, she entered the room, turning to light a number of lanterns that forced the shadows to recede.

The vampire was sitting silently in his chains, showing no movement other than the flicker of his eyes as he followed her journeys around the room. She wasn't perturbed by the feeling of his eyes tracing her, revelling in the knowledge that he was going to respond exactly as she had planned.

Once the room was reasonably lit, she moved closer to the figure in the middle of room. Unlike the two hunters before her, she did not approach him in a violent manner; it was more of a sultry look she was giving him, rather than a threateningly clenched jaw. This change in tactic threw the vampire a little, and he stayed completely still, unsure of how to respond.

Hailee stopped directly in front of the man, enjoying the confusion that haunted his eyes. She moved closer and slowly lowered herself so that she was sat on his knee. She gave him a smile.

"Hey," she said softly, lifting her hand to allow her fingers to follow a gash that trailed from his temple to his chin. "I'm sorry about my colleagues. They tend to get a bit carried away."

The vampire grunted quietly.

"But I promise that I'm not like them. I'm not going to hurt you." She lowered her hand back onto her lap, and smiled sweetly at him. "So what's your name?"

"You tell me yours first." He responded guardedly.

"I'm Hailee."

"Hailee?" He asked. "That's pretty."

She smiled inwardly. This was just as easy as picking up a guy in a bar: pull the innocent girl card out, and they melt in your hands like butter.

"I'm Theodore."

She giggled a little, pushing the act as far as it would go. "My, that's an old fashioned name."

He nodded. "I guess it is. I was born in a time when a man knew how to treat a lady properly. I came over on the Mayflower with my parents when I was four years old."

"How long before you were turned?"

"Twenty one years. I was twenty-five and had decided that I would move away from my family, in the hope of meeting the girl of my dreams and settling down. A few months later, I found a beautiful young lady lost in the woods. Naturally, I offered to help her find her way back to the road. Once we got there, I asked if she would mind seeing me again, and from then on we were inseparable. Within a matter of weeks we were engaged, and on the night before our wedding she told me what she was. I suppose I had always been open to the idea of the supernatural. My grandmother used to tell me bedtime stories of witches and werewolves, angels and demons. I begged Isabelle to turn me too, so that we could spend the rest of eternity together." Theodore paused. "A hunter killed her three months ago."

"Did you ever meet others?"

"Other vampires? Yes. In fact, I worked for the Father if our race for many years. I followed in his shadow, up until he settled in the Black Hills, South Dakota." Suddenly, an internal wall closed down behind his eyes. "You were merely trying to get information out of me. How dare you play games with me! " he snarled.

Hailee hopped off his lap, blew a kiss in his direction and sauntered out of the room, closing the door on his bellowed snarls.

She ran to Dean's room, knocking on the door before bursting through.

He lay blinking at her in the light, his legs tangled in the sheets that lay across him. "What?" He groaned, letting his head fall back on to his pillow.

"I know where the Alpha is."

His head snapped back up. "Where?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third comes 'Dark Hearts' by The Queen Killing Kings, from their 2009 album 'Tidal Eyes'. You may need to have the lyrics with you the first time you listen to it!


	4. 'I Can't Drive 55'

The girl behind the counter looked up as Hailee walked into the store. She couldn't have een much older than seventeen, Hailee reckoned, with long blonde hair that was fully volumised and tousled wrapped in a fishtail braid that ran over her left shoulder and down the front of her uniform. The required company cap as perched on top of her halo of golden tresses.

Hailee smiled at her before turning to wander don the two cramped aisles, picking things up as she went. By the time she was sure that she had everything that they needed she was carrying bottles of water, cans of soda, cold coffee and energy drinks, and various snack foods to restock the Impala's diminishing supplies.

Heading up to the register, Hailee laid her items on the counter. The girl immediately began scanning the bar codes.

"What else can I get for you?" The girl asked, once she had finished.

"I'm at pump number four," Hailee said, as she began eyeing the menu that hung on the wall above the girl's head. "I'll also have three coffees; one flat white, one black and an iced black Americano." She paused as the girl continued to hit various buttons on the cash register, watching the total sum up on the customer-side screen. "And two breakfast rolls, please."

"Alright," the girl murmured softly as she turned away from Hailee to lean down and retrieve the rolls from the fridge under the counter behind her. "Would you like those heated?"

"Ooh, that sounds good. Yes, thank you."

The girl nodded, sliding both into a sandwich press and setting the timer. She then returned to the register and took the card that Hailee slid across the counter. Handing back the PIN machine to Hailee, the girl began packing the items neatly into paper bags. Handing Hailee her receipt, the girl went to make and pour the coffees, before collecting the rolls as the timer went off.

...

She had taken over driving from Dean at around two that morning, as his head began to nod towards the steering wheel. He had bumped a drowsy Sam into the backseat, sliding across the bench seat to fall asleep with his temple resting against the passenger window.

Hailee had always loved driving at night. Enveloped in the darkness on the quiet roads, it would have been easy to believe that they were alone in the wide expanse of land around them. She turned the radio on to a low volume, relishing in the otherwise silent car, and pushed the engine a little harder.

She had not been sleeping well - if at all - since the brothers had found her, and though she was aware that it showed on her face and that it was beginning to worry both of the boys, she knew that trying to close her eyes would result in repeated visuals of her family falling apart.

But the feel of the road beneath the wheels was soothing; it was as close to peace as she had ever come.

...

Dean hadn't really been aware that he had fallen into such a deep sleep after Hailee had offered to take the wheel in the early hours of that morning, until the driver's side door of the Impala slammed closed and waft of coffee and bacon reached his senses.

"Mmngna," was his first word of the day as his eyes fluttered open and his hand reached out towards Hailee. She understood and, having fought his cup out of the travel tray, she handed him coffee.

Dean took a gulp of the drink, relishing in the warmth that it trailed down to his stomach, and began looking for the food that he could smell. Hailee handed him the smaller bag and he reached in to grab a roll. "You're a life saver." He mumbled around a mouthful of breakfast.

"That's delightful." Hailee replied, raising her eyebrows at his lack of manners as she ripped open the wrapper to a breakfast bar.

Dean turned slightly in his seat to take in their surroundings. They were parked on the edge of a run down gas station, whose 'open' sign was blinking in the desperate need for new bulbs, and the paint on the walls couldn't seem to break away fast enough. Over the brow of the hill, he could see a small town, that was completely dead in the early sunlight.

"Where are we?" Dean asked.

"Bertrand, Nebraska. A few hours drive south of the I80."

Dean let his head fall back a little. "This is going to be a long trip."

"Oh, you can bet on that. The whole thing takes about six days, maybe more."

"Well then, wake up Sam. He can drive for a while. You get in the back and sleep, okay?" He knew she wouldn't, that she would spend her down-time leafing through the pages of one of her battered and dog-eared novels, but that wasn't a fight for right now. "Come on. Let's go."

...

It took them days to make it to the edge of the Black Hills and even Hailee, who had before been reasonably fond of Dean's taste in music, was sick to death of Metallica. The three of them had taken it in turns to drive, which surprised Sam who had not expected Dean to hand over the wheel so easily - especially not to a young girl they barely knew.

Finally, Dean brought the Impala to a halt in an empty parking lot. As they got out of the car, Hailee looked around for the first time in a couple of days. Trees towered above them, dark green and luscious, almost blocking the already fading sunlight.

"This as far as we can drive?" She asked, to which Dean nodded. Hailee sighed. Great, she thought, I've always hated hiking. There were a few camping trips that jumped straight to the forefront of her mind at this thought. They had not been pleasant experiences; her brothers had always insisted on sleeping under the stars, claiming that it was all part of the fun - but really it had just been that they were too lazy to carry the extra weight. The bitterly cold nights, shrouded in complete darkness, huddled round a small fire pit while trying to block out the ghost stories had haunted her for years after. Stupid, she knew, considering her line of business, but all the same, any small child is going to freak in the middle of nowhere with no one but their unsympathetic brothers to comfort them.

Dean yanked open the trunk, the screech snapping her back into the present. "Right," he said. "I don't know how long we're gonna be out there, so we'd better stock up. Food. Weapons. Everything. But nothing we don't need."

They were starting down a dirt path in a matter of minutes, Hailee's backpack slung across her shoulders while Sam and Dean had stored everything within the layers of their clothes. They walked in silence, eyes constantly peeled for anything that could clue them in as to where to find the home base of the vampires.

...

The three of them must have been on the move for closing on four hours. The trees had steadily grown closer and closer together as they went deeper into the forest, twisting their roots and branches around each other - almost in a attempt to battle for the remaining air. The thicker layers of leaves and knotted branches had blocked most of the light, even before the sun set. But by now there was no denying that they were stranded in perfect darkness.

It didn't take long for the trio as a collective to deduce that they were successfully traipsing around in circles.

"I swear to God," Hailee muttered through clenched teeth, trying to control her breathing as she teetered on the edge of absolute frustration. "If I see that fucking tree again, I'm going to kill something. And as we have dick from all this, it's going to have to be one of you."

"Patience, grasshopper," Dean chuckled dryly, barely masking his own disappointment at the lack of outcome from their trip.

Sam stood a few steps back from them, running his hand distractedly through his hair. With the onset of the night and the fact that none of them had any clue where they were, his senses were on edge: a leaf moved in the slow breath of wind and he was jumping ten feet up. He played with his lower jaw for a second, swinging it rapidly from side to side, then sucked in his cheeks; there was nothing left to do.

"Look. Let's take a breather okay?" He thrust his hands into his pockets. "We've been out here for god knows how long and we have nothing to show for it. It's been a long night; I say we call it."

Hailee's eyes widened as she swung round to ace him. "Are you freaking kidding me? We were in that goddamn car for seven days! There is no way in hel that we are going to give up now." She pulled her backpack from her shoulders, reached in and threw a Snickers bar to Sam. "You're cranky, that's fine. Have some sugar, take a moment and we'll get going again, okay?"

It seemed as though Sam was about to object so Dean stepped in, placing his hands on Sam's shoulders. "Sammy, it's going to be fine. Just eat the candy. You're a real diva when you're hungry, Princess."

Sam smiled and nodded back at his big brother. "Sure."

"Bitch."

"Jerk."

Sam sighed and leaned up against the nearest trunk. Dean followed suit, pulling a jumbo bag of M&Ms from his jacket and pouring a handful into his mouth. Hailee went to sit on the floor, when all of a sudden the ground beneath her gave with a resounding crack.

Plunged further into darkness, she closed her eyes a split second before she landed hard on her back, all the air knocked out of her lungs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up next is 'I Can't Drive 55' by Sammy Hagar, from his 1984 album 'VOA'.
> 
> Strange choice as it may seem, I felt it supported the urgency in arriving at their destination as soon as possible - and therefore, the need for speed.


	5. 'Yellow Light'

As she began to surface back into consciousness, Hailee found herself bound to a chair with her hands tied behind her and a rough sack bag over her head. In a split second, she was on edge; as far as she could ascertain, she was alone. There were no footfalls to be heard, no breaths moving the air around her, no voices. The air around her was cold and clammy, the room pungent with the smell of decay and stagnant water. She was underground.  
The panic that had momentarily overwhelmed her was now bitten back by an anger that ran so deep. Yet again she had been caught unawares in the presence of the Winchesters, and undoubtedly they would have to come and rescue her. Balling her hands into fists and gritting her teeth so tightly that a slight squeak emitted from her lips, she blinked back tears of frustration. Her brothers had always told her that she was overly vulnerable, and that had their father not insisted that the family remain together as much as possible, she would have been left with a family friend. She knew that there had been times when she had come in handy, as an extra set of hands or bait, but clear evidence lay in the light that her family had spent far more time rescuing and worrying about her than anyone else.  
Blowing a breath out of pursed lips, Hailee scolded herself into regaining control of her emotions. Now was probably the worst time to have any kind of breakdown. As her hitched breathing began to slow and return to normal, her brain kicked in and started to whir together a plan.  
With the bindings merely holding her arms back, and not forcing her wrists together, there was a very good chance that the blade lodged in the inner lining of her jacket sleeve could be loosened and brought down. Using the edge of the chair to knock the tip of the blade free, Hailee felt the material split against her skin, as the weight of the handle forced the knife down. She deftly caught it as it slipped past her palm, and began to saw at the ropes.  
Finally, after minutes of carefully cutting through the layers of rope, she was free. Hailee ripped the bag from over her head, and let out a sigh of desperation as she found herself in complete darkness. Standing up shakily, she stepped forwards with her hands raised in front of her, waiting to find something solid that would allow her to guess where she was. The wall that she hit, a few steps away from the chair, was slick with moss and other substances that Hailee did not wish to contemplate. Edging her way around, there was a door that thankfully was unlatched. Wincing slightly as she considered the fact that this escape was so far going too well, she peeled the door away from its frame, and blinked in the low light from the lanterns lighting the corridor outside.  
Now that she was out in the relative openness, there were voices to be overheard, and the clinking of crockery and glasses down the hall to her right. Seeing that her options to the left were exceedingly limited thanks to a solid wall that spread the width of the corridor, Hailee took in a steadying breath, turned right and began to walk as soundlessly as possible.  
The doors leading off the corridor on either side were locked, clearly bolted from the inside, as there were no locks available for her to break through. Trepidation rose within her as she was forced to continue towards the double doors at the end of the corridor, from under which spilled light. Cracking the doors open silently, she leaned in close to the newly formed gap, and took in the scene that lay in front of her.  
The room was vast, with a high ceiling, from which hung multiple lanterns of varying sizes - the largest of which held fifteen individual candles. In the centre of the room was a long dining table, filled with people. Hailee knew none of them on sight, but from the vats and decanters of deep red liquids that trailed a line down the middle of the tabletop she had no other option than to believe they were vampires. Dotted around the outskirts of the room stood women, of varying ages and statures, scantily dressed and their skin was puckered and broken from bite marks that lay red and bruised contrasting greatly against their unnaturally pale hue.  
Hailee's mind started to whir together a second plan. She was sure that if she could get inside the room without being noticed, it would be possible for her to find her way around to one of the other three doors that stood in the centre of their respective walls. The only issue would be her attire.  
However, in the brief moment that her attention had been drawn away from her surroundings, the door in front of her opened. A male vamp loomed over her and sneered.  
"And where exactly do you think you're going, little lady?"  
Hailee gulped and her mind went blank.  
...  
Dean and Sam had followed Hailee down into the ground, but on arriving where they were sure she had fallen to, she was nowhere to be seen.  
"If they lay a finger on her, I swear.." Dean growled as he looked around to ascertain their options.  
The two hunters found themselves in a cavern-like opening under the ground. The roof above them sported the hole that had carried first Hailee and then the brothers through. There was little light coming through from the night outside, just enough for Dean to make out Sam's features as they twisted into his staple 'I'm thinking' look. Eyebrows knitted together, Sam looked around in hopeful desperation for a way further into the maze they were sure lay ahead of them.  
Gesturing to Dean to remain silent, Sam listened intently, and after a moment began to follow the faint sounds of life echoing from the passageway on the right.  
"Sammy," Dean whispered. "What are you doing?"  
"I can hear something," Sam said, pointing down the passage. "It's not much, but it's all we got."  
Dean shrugged, pulling his machete out from the back of the waistband of his beaten up jeans. "After you."  
...  
Hailee awoke, cursing herself yet again. 'Stupid', she thought, 'you should have known it wasn't going to be that easy.' And as she looked around it was obvious that the vampires had learned from their previous mistakes. She was tied to railings that ran along the back wall in a smaller dining chamber than the one she had previously found. There were guards stationed at every exit, and a handful of diners who were currently sat staring at her.  
There was a slight chill in the air that she had not been conscious of before, and looking down she realised why. Her previous outfit of a loosely fitted black shirt with lace inserts, leggings and her leather jacket, had been replaced by a corset style top that was tied tightly enough to restrict her breathing a little and accentuate her bust considerably, and the tiniest denim hot pants that she had ever seen.  
"Perverts!" She spat venomously, still very aware of the tens of pairs of eyes upon her in that moment.  
There was the sound of a sudden kerfuffle through the heavy oaken door across the room, that redirected the attention of the vampires for a moment. The guards began to move swiftly towards the door to open it, but before they reached the handle, it swung open, and Sam and Dean burst through into the room. They were both breathing heavily, swinging their blades left, right and centre, fighting off the vampires that were advancing on them, all whilst keeping up a stream of profane cursing - at least on Dean's part.  
Dean was the first to spot her on the opposite wall. "Hailee!" He yelled, "Thank-"  
In the split second that his attention had been diverted, he was jumped by four vamps who drew obvious pleasure in pinning him down.  
Sam's jaw, which had slackened from its grimace a little at Dean's discovery, tightened again. He waded into the sea of bodies around him, all jostling to get a taste, determined to reach and aid Dean. But his act of heroism ended unsuccessfully when he too was overpowered.

As both the boys were strung up on the railings alongside her, Hailee watched as a clearly senior vampire began to move towards them. He was wearing a long robe that covered him from his shoulders to the ground, making him appear to glide across the ground he covered. The hood of the robe was drawn to a midpoint over his bald head, and his dark skin contrasted with his piercing eyes in an unsettling way.  
“Ah,” he said, his voice smooth and almost sultry. “The Winchesters; of course. Never a dull moment with you two apes around. But,” he turned to Hailee. “I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure.”  
Hailee’s tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. Not daring to glance at Sam or Dean, she wrestled with the notion that social etiquette demanded she give him her name.  
She cleared her throat. “Hailee.”  
She could almost feel Dean’s anxiety rolling off of him as he hung there next to her, next to useless in defending her.  
“Simmer down, Dean.” The vampire flicked his eyes towards him without turning his head from Hailee. “It’s simply good manners to have a lady introduce herself.” He turned back to Hailee. “I am the Father of my race – the Alpha, if you will.”  
Terror ignited in Hailee’s gut as she faced this creature. She had never before been in the presence of a being of such power, and the thought that she was fully unprepared for this suddenly arose within her. He seemed to sense it, and chuckled a little to himself. He moved forward to lay a hand on her cheek.  
“Do not fret, Hailee. You have no reason to fear me. You will come to no harm at my hands. You are a unique specimen in these times of frivolity.”  
Dean was all but seizing next to her. “What the hell does that mean?” he demanded, fighting his bonds in an attempt to put himself in between the Alpha and Hailee.  
“She is pure. In a way that few young women are these days. Not something that you would expect, Dean. Though I am sure you’ve marred enough in your time.”  
Hailee’s eyes slammed shut in embarrassment. Of all the things he could have picked on…  
Dean was still trying to put together the fragmented pieces that the Alpha had thrown at him, but Sam seemed to have completed the puzzle.  
“But why does that cause any interest for you?” he asked.  
“The purity of her blood is a delicacy, as you boys well know from our previous encounters.”  
Dean froze. “She’s a…” He turned his head as much as he could to face Hailee. “You’re a v-?”  
Hailee shook her head violently at him to get him to shut up, “That’s not what’s important Dean. We came here for answers, and I’ll be damned if I leave without them.”  
The Alpha chuckled. “I like your spark, young one. You may ask a question. But only one.”  
Hailee watched him move away towards a seat, and then took a breath. “Do you have anything to do with the mutant creatures we’ve been facing?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fifth on my playlist is 'Yellow Light' by Of Monsters And Men, from their 2011 album 'My Head Is An Animal'.


	6. 'A Modern Myth'

The binds around my wrists felt as though they were tightening as the minutes dragged on while we waited for an answer from the Alpha. I attempted to loosen them a little, circling my wrists in order to keep the blood flow as normal as possible, but the aching that had grown within my joints in the time I had been strung up against the railings was too much. Hissing in pain, I gave up and instead turned to scowl at the Alpha.

He seemed unaffected by any of the negative vibes being hurled his way by the Winchesters. He simply paced slowly back and forth in front of his throne-like chair, tapping his chin idly as he waited for the right words to come to him.

Finally he stilled. "Your choice of words is intriguing, Miss Hailee." He turned to look at me, thoughtfulness clouding his otherwise piercing eyes. "Mutants, you say?"

I nodded vehemently.

"Now, what on earth would make you so sure?"

I took in a shaky breath as he stepped towards me, his eyes never leaving my face. "Whatever they are, they are no longer what they used to be. I saw that first hand. My family were human. But when they died, they were no longer. Whatever had take a hold of their blood, it mutated them beyond belief." I cast my eyes to the floor, begging the verging tears to stay behind my lids. "I wouldn't have believed it, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes."

I closed my eyes, once again clinging onto my grief in a desperate hope to keep it inside.

"Don't you touch her!" Dean yelled, seconds before I felt the Alpha's long, sharp nail skim its way down my jaw. I jerked back to find his face inches from mine.

"Perhaps you misunderstood the situation," he murmured. "Perhaps the 'mutation' was for the best; making them stronger, better beings."

Tears flooded my vision as I looked back at him. "No," I answered, my voice breaking. "It killed the best parts of them; it took away their humanity."

Anger sieged across the Alpha's face. He raised his hand in a flash and,for a split second, I was sure that he was about to strike me. Sam and Dean obviously believed the same because their yells and the protestations of their bindings filled the room as they attempted to defend me. But I could not move my gaze from the Alpha's, fear flooding through me.

After a moment, the Alpha lowered his hand, gripping the side of my head instead. "How dare you attempt to look down on my kind, little girl. We are by far superior. Have I not outlived every single one of your messiahs? Have I not survived every single one of your apocalypses? Will I not continue to do so until the end of time?" He moved back, scoring his talons through the skin of my neck and cheek, smirking a little at the blood that rushed through the lesions. "Humanity, and the the mortality that it entails, are overrated." He slowly raised his hand, moving his fingertips to his lips, and tasting the droplets of my blood that rested there. "Though, of course," he said, quirking an eyebrow, "there are certain aspects that appeal."

I felt sick to my stomach. Hanging there, bound to the wall, I allowed the weight of my body to sink into the bindings. Hanging my head, I swallowed, forcing back the bile that was steadily climbing up my throat.

Finally Sam spoke. "Are you going to answer her question or not?"

The Alpha paused yet again. "Yes. The creatures that you have been coming across; they are, in a way, my doing." Dean hissed out a disgusted sound. "It has been hard to secure the futures of my children as of late. What with abominations like yourselves careering around, ending their precious lives." He murmured a soft laugh, "Or after lives, depending on how you look at it."

The Alpha took a seat, arranging himself in the chair so that his elbow rested on the arm and his talons stroked their way into the carvings at the end of it. "It has taken a great amount of deliberation to find a way to dumbfound the threats. As you know, my children are not the only ones that were once human but came back with a - how shall I say? - an appetite for their former selves?"

Dean growled low in his throat. "I'm glad you take so much joy out of taking away others lives."

The Alpha snapped his head towards Dean, baring his fangs. "Do not speak out of turn with me, boy. Unlike your companion here, I would have no remorse in tearing your throat out in a second." He turned back to me, his eyes constricting a little in thought. "I believe you have run into the walking dead in your time?"

"Zombies?" I asked hesitantly. I hated them, possibly even more than vampires.

"If that is what you so wish to call them," the Alpha shrugged nonchalantly. "I have been instructing a handful of my children to conduct a few experiments: allowing themselves to be bitten. A second rebirth, if you will. The results have varied." He raised his finger to his lip, tapping it against the skin. "Unfortunately, not too long ago, we had a break out of a few of the most affected."

"You don't seem too concerned." I stated, my voice shaking as I took in all that he had just said.

Yet again, he shrugged one shoulder. "I believe my most reliable children will have it under control in next to no time. No need for you to further your investigation into the situation."

"No need?!" I spluttered. "The disease that you created took my family from me. It is still raging through the country, and I will be damned if I allow any others to suffer at its hands." I threw my shoulders back in defiance. "I demand that you include me in your nullification of the outbreak."

The Alpha smiled. "There's your spark again, child. I shall consider your request. But for the meantime, I demand that you all take a step back until further notice." He nodded minutely at the guards who stood behind his chair, waving them forwards towards us. We were gagged and blindfolded. I felt slight pressure on my neck, where the cuts lay, but in my struggle to release myself from the hands that held me, I hit my head and the curtain went down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next comes 'A Modern Myth' by 30 Seconds to Mars, from their 2005 album 'A Beautiful Lie'.


	7. 'Long Walk Home'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is just a little piece I've been mulling over for a while. I kind of wanted to give you some of Hailee's background, explain her a little further, and what better way than a flashback?

*FLASHBACK*

Hailee was lightly roused from her sleep by a large and calloused hand slapping against the bare sole of her left foot, that stuck out a way from under her duvet. She mumbled a little before punching her old and distinctly battered and broken pillow into a more supportive shape and turning over, with the hope of fending off the long hours of the day that loomed ahead with ignorance and blissful slumber.

The sounds of life were beginning to start up around her. Xavier's snores were brought to an abrupt end by a belly-trembling snort, that she guessed - from the sound of bare skin on skin - was caused by the same intervention that went against her own sleep; the shower pounded down onto the old mouldy tiles in the adjacent bathroom, attempting to drown out Boaz's howling to the radio - and everyone wondered what was up with his middle name, Beowulf - there was no denying that boy had a pair of lungs on him, regardless that they were tuneless. Mindlessly, she wondered how she had slept through the starting notes of her brother's morning routine.

"Hailee!" Her father's gruff voice cut through her drifting thoughts. "Wake up. We gotta hit the road before sun-up."

She muttered a half-hearted "yeah..." and allowed her fluttering eyelids to close once more. Just another five minutes.

There was the sound of the internal door closing as her father moved into the adjoining motel room, followed closely by the key turning in the lock. The door opened and there was a healthy waft of coffee and bacon. Hailee's stomach growled appreciatively and she heard her oldest brother's throaty chuckle.

"It's good to know that at least part of you is vaguely awake this morning, Hails."

Hailee slit one eye open and glared balefully at Isaac, watching as he closed the motel room door before loping good-naturedly across the room, grinning, his arms laden with breakfast for six. As he reached the edge of her makeshift bed on the floor, he nudged her knee with the toe of his boot, before lowering a polystyrene coffee cup and waving it tantalisingly in range of her nose.

"Come on, Barbie. Sit up."

Joints popping, muscles screaming and an uncomfortable crick in her neck making itself known, Hailee stretched along the thin camping mat that lay under her, yawned, and heaved herself upright. She grabbed the corner of her beloved duvet and pulled it up around her shoulders before the chill of the early morning and the dankness of her surroundings could truly set into her bones. Gratefully accepting the offered cup from Isaac's grasp, she ran a hand over her face and blinked hard, attempting to wake herself up further before allowing her nerves to be invaded by the pungent, albeit stale, gas station caffeine.

"One day, I swear, I'm going to wake up in a lovely fluffy four-poster bed with not a single ache in my body." She grumbled, rolling her head on her neck a few times before taking a sip of coffee. Grimacing as the bitter liquid hit her tastebuds, she looked up at Isaac, who had taken a seat on the edge of the bed behind her. "And I'll be woken by a smiling servant with an Iced Caramel Macchiato on a silver tray."

Xavier snorted from the bed behind her. "Keep dreaming, princess."

He stuck his foot over the edge of the bed and nudged Hailee's cheek with his toes. She slapped him away with fierce abandon, coming very close to knocking over the tray of coffees in Isaac's hands - he frowned, swiping them away in the nick of time, "Careful, Hails!" - and Xavier sat up slowly, laughing at his sister's antics, incensing her further.

"I'll have a room all to my-fucking-self - at least! - and I won't be surrounded by fucking stupid, stinking boys!"

Xavier raised his eyebrows at Isaac, who was attempting to bury a grin. He opened his mouth but someone got there first.

"Hey!" A deep voice came from through the closed bathroom door. "Don't include me in that category! I'm sparklingly clean!"

Hailee barked out a short laugh. "Yeah, you just deafen everyone in the process!"

When nothing was heard through the aged and battered wooden door but a grunt of disagreement, she fleetingly wondered when exactly the howling from the shower had ceased - and how they had all missed the milestone in the family morning routine.

"Alright," Isaac said, always the pacifier, "how about you finish getting that caffeine into you before you bite anyone else's head off, yeah?" 

He stood up, ruffled her hair slightly and walked away smiling softly when she slapped his hand away.

"Jeez, is it that time of the month already?" Xavier snarked in what he believed to be a good-natured fashion, as he too stood up and headed towards the bathroom door to force their brother to get a move on.

Anger that she couldn't quite wholly justify bubbled up through her veins from the pit of her stomach in response. Hailee growled before slamming her coffee cup down, causing the lid to split off and the liquid to slosh down the sides and soak into the old moth-eaten carpet. She threw herself across the room and pounced into Xavier's back, forcing him into a wall and pounding once against his shoulders.

"You're such a dick!" She muttered, thrusting his head forward with the heel of her hand.

He began to fight back, grabbing at her calves as she clung on with her arms wrapped around his neck. But before the tussle went much further, two of the three doors leading into the room opened simultaneously.

Hunter Buck, the father figure of this particular clan, loomed in the doorway with the cold early morning sky silhouetting him, whilst Boaz emerged from the bathroom with his dark hair dripping onto the back of his neck, jeans slung low around his hips and a towel over his right shoulder.

Hailee froze as she caught sight of her father in the doorway. He was never best pleased when his children caused a scene, regardless of whether it was in public or not, especially when she was involved - he seemed to hold her to some kind of better standard than her brothers, most likely because she was a girl and didn't have the 'testosterone to run off by play-fighting or soccer'. Personally, Hailee thought of Hunter as a vaguely misogynistic man, who had been raised in a traditional family, and so did not take the abilities of women all too seriously.

With the heavy desire to roll her eyes, Hailee loosened her limbs, allowing Xavier more room to breath and move. He would know that it was an unfair win - not that he would really care - but their father would not. Xavier caught a hold of her tank top and used this leverage to whip her around in front of him, slamming her up against the wall that she had previously knocked his head into. The pain that shot through her at the blunt force of contact with the plaster assured that she lost all grip on her brother, hanging like a rag doll a foot or so above the ground.

"What the fuck, Hails?" He yelled, practically spitting with rage, pushing his face right up to within a centimetre or two of hers. "What the fuck was that for?"

Hailee was still attempting to catch her breath after having all the air in her lungs knocked out. Gasping quietly, she looked up to meet his eye.

He shook his head, incredulous, "I swear to God, I will never understand girls. They're fucking nuts."

Hailee simply raised an eyebrow, her gaze meeting his and never faltering, her signature cocky grin sliding easily in to place. "Well, at least you've accepted that."

Xavier snorted, pushing away, and stalked into the bathroom, slamming the door closed so hard that a crack formed in the wall above the doorframe. Hailee turned back to face the two other people in the room. Her father had moved further away from the door and now stood by the bottom of the first king-sized bed, whilst Boaz had stayed stock-still staring at the altercation between his siblings.

"Well, someone forgot his happy pill this morning," she jested, smirking a little.

Her father continued to eye her up, completely silent. As the seconds ticked by, Hailee's stomach began to turn, her face dropping at each movement of the second hand. It was always easier to handle when he exploded and yelled, screamed, threw things; but this silent side only came out in moments of incredulity or disappointment. Finally she decided to break the silence.

"Dad... Come on, we were just... He..."

Hunter just held up a hand and all the words that were stumbling over each other to find release from Hailee's tongue dried up. She swallowed their remnants, gulping heavily to pass them down her dry throat. It wasn't often that her father managed to assert his authority over his children now that they were grown up, but at times like this, when a number of them were resorting to childish methods, his shadow seemed to overtake their own and they were forced to fall back in line, much like they had when they were younger.

"Hailee Frige Buck." He said in a quiet, even tone. "What exactly do you think you were doing?"

Hailee felt heat rise up in her cheeks at the use of her full name. That card had not been pulled on her in a long time - however, she realised, not long enough - and it still made her feel about two inches tall at best.

"Dad, it wasn't... We were just..."

Her father simply raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms across his chest, waiting for his youngest to finish tripping over her words. Hailee cursed this about herself; get her flustered and all sense and rhythm flew out of her head, leaving her a mumbling, bumbling idiot. She paused, swallowing and taking a breath to collect herself before attempting to explain herself once again.

"It was nothing. Just some...stupid fight."

"What about?" Hunter's tone was clear and very reasonable, much like the man himself.

The fight flared back up in Hailee as she flipped back to the beginning of the fight. "He got me mad, and then tried to blame it on me PMSing! Just like he always does! And it just makes me so fucking mad!" Her eyes flashed, and she made no apologies for her language in front of her father, refusing to back down this time.

He looked at her hard and then quietly asked, "Are you?"

Hailee's face flamed and her jaw nearly dropped in shock. "Dad! I am not going to talk to you about that!"

"Why not?" He interrupted, seemingly unaware of my discomfort. "Wasn't I the one you came to the first time, when you were honestly scared that you were dying?"

Hailee's eyes widened considerably before she hid her face in her hands, whimpering in embarrassment. "Dad..." she muttered.

There was a low chuckle from Boaz's direction that he attempted to smother in a cough, but Hailee caught onto the sound. Her head snapped up, indignation thickly covering her embarrassment. She glared at her brother with such a powerful death stare that had he not watched her grow up and witnessed the developing stages of that look, he would have felt himself quake where he stood. He had the good grace to look vaguely apologetic.

"Sorry, Hails." He mumbled, moving to cross the room to rummage unnecessarily noisily through his duffle bag for a shirt.

"What?" Their father continued, refusing to drop this particular vein of conversation. "Why does it bother you so much?"

"You don't get it! They all treat me different because I'm a girl! Not only that, but I'm the only girl. It's just another fucking thing to make me different, and it's like they think it means I'm not as good as them or something. And you know what? I'm sick of it!" It looked as though her father was going to step in, but Hailee ploughed on, ignoring his attempt completely, determined to clear her chest of everything that she needed to say. "I'm just as good a hunter, I'm just as good a tracker; I'm better at research. I can fight like hell - I could their asses any time. And yes, maybe I'm more in tune with my emotions, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It actually helps sometimes! You know that. Like the time I had to talk that death echo out of his loop; or when we have to talk to grieving family and friends - you know that they tell me more than they ever would you! And I'm allowed to get mad, it's normal. And it sure as hell does not mean that I'm PMSing. Sometimes that person is just being a dick!"

As she came to the end of her rant, silence fell in the room, leaving only the sound of running water filling the air as Xavier brushed his teeth. It seemed that Hunter had no idea as to how to respond to his daughter's outbreak, still not entirely sure about the motive behind her anger. Boaz had finished getting dressed and was quietly rolling up his sleeping mat, sleeping bag and pillow, actively ignoring the tension between the other two people in the room. "Okay," Hunter finally broke the silence.

"I'm packed, so I'll go and get Isaac and Bonnie. You guys finish up in here. You've got twenty minutes after Xavier comes out, okay, Hails?"

She nodded numbly and he turned to walk out of the room.

 

There was a voice from over Hailee's shoulder. She frowned. That wasn't what had happened next. She had sat on the bed and waited in silence with Boaz until Isaac came out of the bathroom, but sure enough when she turned around now, Boaz was facing towards her. "Hailee." He said, his face expressionless. Hailee was considerably unsettled by the lack of emotion that Boaz was displaying. The two of them had such a close relationship that there was always a semi-hidden smirk, or conversation through eye-contact shared, so to look at his face now and feel no connection to him whatsoever was deeply disturbing. "Hailee." He repeated, his voice morphing into an unrecognisable but still vaguely familiar tone. His expression had not changed, but this unknown voice had flavours of panic and fear running through it. "Hailee!" It came again, roaring through her brother's lips. Confusion began to whirl inside her brain, and as it did so, the world around her began to spin as well, leaving her with only the voice to hold onto.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Chapter 7, I have chosen 'Long Walk Home' by Bruce Springsteen, from his 2007 album 'Magic'.  
> I know that in the lyrics, 'home' is referring to a place, namely his hometown; but for Hailee - much as for the Winchesters - her home is her family.  
> I have never been entirely sure whether, in this song, Springsteen is considering the geographical distance in how far he has to go to get back to his house and his "pretty darlin'" or if he was contemplating a more philosophical standpoint, such as the regression that has occurred since a better time. For this use, however, I'm thoroughly exploiting my second theory, covering both the spiritual distance between Hailee and her family, the distance in time between now and happier times, and the lengths that she will have to go to in order to build herself a new home.


	8. 'Foreigner's God'

_There was a voice from over Hailee's shoulder. She frowned. That wasn't what had happened next. She had sat on the bed and waited in silence with Boaz until Isaac came out of the bathroom, but sure enough when she turned around now, Boaz was facing towards her._

_"Hailee." He said, his face expressionless. Hailee was considerably unsettled by the lack of emotion that Boaz was displaying. The two of them had such a close relationship that there was always a semi-hidden smirk, or conversation through eye-contact shared, so to look at his face now and feel no connection to him whatsoever was deeply disturbing._

_"Hailee." He repeated, his voice morphing into an unrecognisable but still vaguely familiar tone. His expression had not changed, but this unknown voice had flavours of panic and fear running through it._

_"Hailee!" It came again, roaring through her brother's lips. Confusion began to whirl inside her brain, and as it did so, the world around her began to spin as well, leaving her with only the voice to hold onto._

Hailee could feel herself drifting in that blissful limbo between blackness and consciousness. Life was beginning to filter through slowly in the form of a dull pounding headache and a turning in her stomach. Someone began to ruthlessly shake her shoulder. Or had they been doing that all along? Hailee had been aware of an internal rocking sensation, but had put it down to imbalance due to an upset stomach.

“Hailee...” The ringing in her ears was almost enough to completely drown out the voice and the repeated cry of her name.

“Hailee.” A second voice had joined the fray inside her skull. She shifted her head to the side and groaned softly as a fork of pain as quick as lightening shot up the back of her neck.

“Hailee!” The vigourous rattling of her loose-boned upper body increased in tempo.

“Ugh... I’m awake okay?... I’ll meet you at the van...” she murmured grumpily, frowning softly, before attempting to roll away from the hand that was working to jolt her out of unconsciousness.

“Hailee? Hailee! I need you to open your eyes. Now! Come on.”

She took a moment to process the blatant panic in the voice - which, now she had considered for a moment, didn’t sound quite as familiar as she had originally thought. Screwing up her face, the confusion began to set in as an alarm bell started to ring in the deep recesses of her head, warning that something about this situation was not quite right, but for that moment her weighted eyelids and slumbering bones seemed to be winning out.

“Dad... Chill... I’m getting up, okay?”

The next thing she knew, a large hand had landed a hard smack across her cheek, and her eyes shot open. Where she had been half-expecting to find herself in some grotty, mould-ridden motel room with her father’s disgruntled face looming over her reclining form, she found hard, cold cement under her back and a blurred outline of two men silhouetted against a cold grey sky. Slowly their faces came into focus. She shot bolt upright, clinging to what little material was keeping her vaguely decent, as the past few days came storming back into clarity.

Monsters. Back-up. Virus. Fire. Dad. Winchesters. Vampires. Alpha. Hailee’s breathing took a running leap and began pounding in and out of her body at an alarming rate. Dad. Boaz. Xavier. Isaac. Linden. Kaeden. Bonnie. Gabrielle. Demetria. Jaimie... Her uncles; Aunt Fiona; her cousins. The pyres. The howling.

“Sam!” She heard faintly overhead. “She’s freaking out. What do I do?” Panic was welling further in the cracks in the voice. Dean. “What the fuck do we do?”

“Calm down. That’s what we do, Dean. Then we just make sure she keeps breathing. Try getting her head between her knees.”

Hailee felt her body being manipulated into the desired position, not really conscious enough of what was happening around her to attempt to stop them. Slowly, her breathing began to peter out of its frantic rhythm, returning to normal, only to be replaced by wrenching sobs that ripped through her body, exiting violently through her throat. She felt a presence to her left and an arm was slung over her shoulders, pulling her tight into the person’s side. The gentle scent of soap, mint and a woodsy undertone clarified that it was Sam. She collapsed into him, tucking her head under his chin and wrapping her arms around his waist.

“S-sorry...” she mumbled through the tears. “I-I... I’m...”

“Shh,” he whispered back, tightening his arms around her shoulders.

Aware of a shift of Sam’s head, Hailee guessed that he and Dean were using their non-verbal communication to decide what was happening next. After a moment, she heard Dean’s heavy booted footsteps move away a short distance before the sounds of an old rusted door being opened ensued. After he walked further away, down some stairs, there was no sound except Hailee’s sobs.

Sam sat there, rocking Hailee gently, with his chin resting on the crown of her head, until her sobs had subsided to hiccuping gasps, from gasps to soundless tears. Her tears soon dried on her cheeks, leaving her skin swollen and blotchy, her eyes red and raw and her mouth dry as her nose continually ran.

“I’m sorry, Sam,” she said quietly, wiping her eyes on her wrist. “I didn't mean to... It just... Hit me, you know?”

“Hails,” Sam chuckled mirthlessly, “There’s nothing for you to apologise for. I know Dean freaked, but he’s never been good at the ‘chick-flick’ stuff. It’s perfectly natural that you would cry. I was kind of worried that you hadn't.”

Hailee laughed softly, “I freaked on Dean back at the warehouse.”

Sam smiled tightly, “Yeah. So he said.”

She gently pulled away from his embrace, taking a moment to look around her. The surroundings were completely alien to her. They were sat near an old rusted iron door that was cut into the side of a hill, overlooking a small town in the valley below.

“Where are we?”

“We’re back at the bunker,” Sam said with a small shrug.

Hailee smiled. “I didn't really get a look around before.”

“Come on, let’s head in. Go find Dean.”

\----------

Hailee followed Sam down one of many tiled corridors that she had not ventured down before, through to a grand old library, full of thousands of books, some falling to pieces, some with their spines barely cracked. Sam paused for a second, obviously looking for his brother, but Hailee had been completely distracted by her surroundings. Drawn to the shelves, she ran light fingers over the spines and titles, in awe of the sheer amount of knowledge available for consumption.

Sam chuckled, “It’s a lot to take in, huh?”

Hailee turned over her shoulder to look at him, her jaw still loose from the immediate impression that the room had lain on her. “A lot to take in?” she said incredulously. “This is fucking insane. Like, where...? How...?”

Turning back to face the books head-on again, she found her head tilting a little as she scanned across the titles: reports on sightings; books of incantations, spells and rituals; papers on demon species, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, wendigos, witches, every monster imaginable; shelves upon shelves of books on lore and myth from every religion and culture imaginable; leaflets on weapons, firearms, even on armour. Spaced intermittently between the rows of titles were swords of many description, a large golden compass covered in forms of symbols or hieroglyphics, the occasional black-and-white photograph or portraits of men - who, Hailee guessed, had been former members of the Men of Letters, who ever they were - and positioned roughly in the centre of the back wall, hung a magnificent clock that appeared to turn anti-clockwise.

“We haven't figured that one out yet,” Sam admitted with a small smirk, “Dean reckons that the Men of Letters may have had a sense of humour when they were drunk, but I’m not convinced.”

“Well, you wouldn't want to have to figure out the time after a few.” Hailee laughed a little.

Sam snorted in return, “That’s very true.”

He turned to continue through the bunker and Hailee jogged across the room to fall into step beside him. They walked through more rooms filled with books and files, tables and chairs scattered with papers, one of which already had Sam’s laptop charging on it, before reaching a door off of another thin tiled corridor that lead to the kitchen.

Sam pushed open the door to reveal Dean with a ‘prick with fork’ apron tied around his midsection with a large chopping knife in one hand and an onion in the other. He looked up as he heard the two enter, and a smile crept to his lips.

“Welcome to my domain!” He half-shouted, spreading his arms to gesture at the room at large. The pride in his face caused both Sam and Hailee’s faces to split into equally large grins to match his.

“I didn't know you could cook,” Hailee said, taking a seat on one of the bar stools that stood in front of the work counter that Dean was currently prepping on.

He flashed a playful look at her. “Bite your tongue, missy.” he growled. “You have yet to experience my culinary expertise.”

Hailee raised her eyebrow slightly in a questioning look, taking in Dean’s challenging expression, before throwing it over her shoulder at Sam.

He smiled, holding his hands up in surrender, “The man makes a mean burger. What can I say?”

Dean shook out his plumage in pride, his characteristic smirk in place, at his younger brother’s praise. “Damn right I do. Won’t find a better one north of Texas.”

Hailee laughed, jumping down from her stool to go to the fridge. Opening the door, she scanned the beverages available.

“Do you really only have beer?” she asked, scrunching her nose and turning to face the boys.

Dean shrugged nonchalantly, “Nectar of the Gods. And my personal choice, as well. Be damn glad you're allowed any, Miss Nineteen-Years-Old.”

Sam smirked at his brother, remembering a time when their ages had been such that Dean could reprimand Sam for the occasional beer that was snuck out of the case from under John’s nose, or the odd cigarette that went missing out of his packet.

\----------

Dinner was a homely affair. It was the first home-cooked meal that Hailee had had in a long time that she hadn't had to produce. Sure, it was a burger, not some three-bird roast, but in that moment, it was perfect.

Afterwards, Dean disappeared out to the garage to double check that Baby had made the trip home okay, ready and willing to spend the next hours fine-tuning and loving her. Sam buried his nose into a mountain of books that was already sitting on a desk in the library, waiting for his perusal. Hailee was left wandering aimlessly around the bunker, examining various artefacts as she went, a keen interest in the Men of Letters already burning in the back of her brain.

As the night went on, she decided to change for bed. Once in her room, she pulled on an old pair of leggings that bore holes down both legs, and an old shirt of her father’s. As she pulled the shirt over her head, there was an subtle waft of his cologne that engulfed her. Her breath caught in her throat, as the loss hit her yet again like a brick wall.

Curling up on the mattress and burying herself under the duvet, Hailee flipped off the light, and succumbed to the sobs that were aching to break free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up, 'Foreigner's God' by Hozier. A beautiful song about the ways that people grieve. Definitely worth a listen to.


End file.
